Preparation

He decided to put aside thoughts of missions for now. The sweat from awakening his ability felt unpleasantly sticky, and his germophobia couldn’t bear it any longer; he desperately needed a shower. He would take one while he still could; the rest could wait.

Then, he encountered his second surprise.

Looking at himself in the mirror—up, down, left, right—the person staring back was ninety percent identical to him. The only difference was that they appeared to be male. He watched the Adam’s apple in the mirror bob up and down as he swallowed, a clear sign of his shock, and Chi Bai, unwilling to believe it, reluctantly reached down to feel.

Excellent. His second surprise, following closely on the heels of the apocalypse: he had undergone a gender transformation.

Chi Bai, still bewildered, went to grab a change of clothes. He found that the usual spot where he kept his underwear no longer contained any; instead, there were only boxer briefs. He picked up a clean pair and examined them closely, confirming he hadn’t misseen: there was indeed a distinct pouch for male anatomy.

Chi Bai rubbed his forehead in exasperation, genuinely wondering if he was still dreaming, but the pinch he had just given himself had certainly stung.

It seemed this wasn’t a sudden gender change; perhaps he had transmigrated to a parallel world or something similar. Everything in his home, from the furniture to the decor, remained unchanged, which was why he had only just noticed the anomaly—or rather, overlooked it, like the hand he saw upon waking that perfectly suited his aesthetic (TL Note: ‘XP’ is an internet slang term referring to personal aesthetic preferences or ‘likings’).

However, there was an ancient Chinese saying: ‘When you are here, make yourself at home.’ Chi Bai believed his adaptability had always been strong. As an orphan with no ties or burdens, changing worlds held no regrets for him. What did it matter where one lived? Moreover, he had even awakened an unknown ability; compared to his previous life, he was coming out ahead.

He peeled off his clothes, tossing them into the laundry hamper, all while reassuring himself mentally. As he walked into the bathroom and passed the mirror again, Chi Bai noticed something else: a palm-sized, blue-purple lightning mark had appeared on the outer side of his right upper arm. Against his fair skin, the lightning mark stood out strikingly.

Chi Bai was at a loss. Had his parallel-world self gotten a tattoo?

Still, a shower was his priority. He truly disliked the feeling of sweat clinging to his skin.

The shower itself was perfectly normal, aside from his curious exploration of his new acquisition.

While drying his hair, he reopened the futuristic screen. Chi Bai sat in his gaming chair and tapped on ‘Mission,’ carefully reading the description. He felt it was quite user-friendly. Just that morning, he had wondered what ‘nearby’ implied, but these descriptions now provided all the details.

The mission title was the same as the pop-up window he had seen that morning, and the mission description clearly outlined what Chi Bai needed to do.

Mission Objective: Eliminate the zombies within this building.

Time Limit: Within 24 hours

Reward: Body Enhancement Potion

There was no explicit penalty for mission failure, but Chi Bai understood: if he didn’t undertake the mission, he would eventually be devoured by the zombies outside, or encounter them if he tried to run. In other words, he would have to steel himself and proceed. Failure meant death.

Excellent. The very first day was this thrilling. He dared not imagine what else awaited him.

Chi Bai then checked his personal information. Until now, he still didn’t know what ability he had awakened.

Name: Chi Bai

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Current Location: XX District, S City, Guangdong Province, China Greater Region

Awakened Ability: Natural Element – Lightning (Level 1)

This was the content of the panel. Upon seeing his ability, Chi Bai finally understood why the background of his panel was a blue-purple lightning bolt; it was identical to the “tattoo” on his arm.

It was hard not to associate it with a mark of awakened ability, much like the scar left on the arm after a smallpox vaccination—a sign of inoculation.

After reviewing the panel, Chi Bai still didn’t know how to trigger his ability. He thought for a moment, extended his hand, and imagined a ball of electricity appearing there. He then felt something surge from his Dantian (TL Note: A significant energy center in traditional Chinese medicine, often translated as ‘elixir field’), flow through his right arm, and with a whoosh, the imagined ball of electricity materialized in his hand.

It shimmered with brilliant light, infused with blue-purple lightning, incredibly captivating.

Excitement gleamed in Chi Bai’s eyes. He clenched his hand, and the ball of electricity vanished. With an ability like this, what was there to dread? Bring it on!

It was just killing zombies; he would treat them as mere fodder to be cleared.

Despite his bold words, Chi Bai still made some preparations. He discovered he could mentally transfer items into his backpack. His backpack currently had 20 slots. He placed 8 sets of clothes inside—two changes for each of the four seasons. The backpack was quite intuitive; tops, bottoms, and shoes would automatically merge into one slot, much like outfits in a game. Thus, 8 sets of clothes only occupied 8 slots, leaving 12. Chi Bai then added some toiletries, though unfortunately, these didn’t merge as efficiently.

Only his toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash cup automatically combined into one slot. Body wash, shampoo, hand soap, and even laundry detergent merged into another. Chi Bai long-pressed on that slot and found its description was simply ‘toiletries.’ He couldn’t understand why this couldn’t merge with the toothbrush set, but in any case, he still had 10 slots remaining.

Chi Bai considered taking his ID card, unsure if it would be useful, and also his bank cards, which consumed one slot as a card holder. With 9 slots left, Chi Bai had nothing else he immediately wanted to pack.

So, he picked up the only cutting implement in his home: a cleaver. Although he didn’t cook, he had bought all the necessary cooking utensils, originally intending to cook for himself after graduating and starting work, but that aspiration had never materialized. He thought for a moment and decided to put the entire set of kitchenware into his backpack. Fortunately, it automatically merged into a single ‘kitchenware’ slot. He didn’t put the cleaver in; instead, he held it in his hand. Even with his awakened ability, he wasn’t sure how to use it effectively. Should he just hurl electric orbs at the zombies? What if it didn’t electrocute them to death, especially since his ability was only Level 1?

Finally, he ate the only loaf of bread in the refrigerator, put on long sleeves and long pants to prevent bites—while it was generally believed that awakened individuals wouldn’t turn into zombies if bitten, what if he was the exception?—and tied his shoelaces. Chi Bai, cleaver in his right hand, cautiously opened his apartment door.

“Click.”

He normally wouldn’t have noticed, but now the sound seemed incredibly loud. He wondered if zombies even had hearing.

Chi Bai leaned against the wall, peering out through the narrow gap of the slightly ajar door. He saw no anomalies and heard no sounds. He carefully pushed the door open further, craning his neck to look around, and still found nothing out of the ordinary.

It was then that he found it strange. His was an apartment building with six units per floor and a single elevator. Yet, after the notification sound had appeared in his mind that morning, there had been a brief commotion outside. At the time, he had assumed people were leaving for work, but now, upon reflection, they must have fled.

But would people fleeing for their lives bother to close their doors? This suggested there might still be survivors inside, and the doors had been closed to keep something out.

The mission only stated to clear the zombies within this building, nor did it state that the entire building was infested.

Upon realizing this, Chi Bai eased his guard slightly. He lived on the top floor, so clearing would only require him to descend. The rooftop access door was always kept locked. He observed the six doors on the floor. Only the one directly opposite his and the one next to it were closed. He was situated in the middle, and the doors on his side were both wide open. He had opened his door a while ago, and nothing unusual had happened, so presumably, the occupants within had already escaped.

Still, Chi Bai maintained his vigilance. After a moment’s thought, he decided to go left first. The stairs were to the right, and he would search the left side before heading down.

The door to his left stood wide open. It was clean, with no sign of an ambush upon opening the door, as he had half-expected. Of course, if people turned into zombies, they would do so inside; a zombie wouldn’t simply materialize out of thin air.

He tentatively pushed the door further open. No one was hiding behind it. He glanced behind him again, and all remained calm and undisturbed.

With that, he stepped through the doorway.